With global crisis, RP notebook, desktop sales decline–IDC

MANILA, Philippines–The desktop and notebook PC market in the Philippines saw a 12.8 percent market share decline in fourth quarter of 2008, research firm International Data Corp. said.

This is largely due to the decline in PC purchases, a recent report by the research firm showed.

Jaygan Fu Ponnudurai, IDC Market analyst for personal systems research, said in a statement that local channel partners of computer brands have shifted focus from chasing lucrative commissions to keeping their businesses afloat.

He said channel partners were also placing fewer inventories, which caused drop in shipments for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Ponnudurai also said netbooks—or low-cost notebooks–have also “cannibalized” the PC desktop market.

Many vendors have been aggressively lowering the prices of netbooks to target younger consumers, which further pushed for adoption of this low-cost notebooks than desktop or laptop computers.

As global eocnomy remained uncertain, PC vendors and channel partners should be prepared for further challenges this year, the IDC analyst said.

“Vendors and channel partners should strengthen their partnerships and formulate strategies to target specific market segments to weather out the economic storm,” added Ponnudurai.–Alexander Villafania, INQUIRER.net